Master storyteller, Neil Gaiman created death, and I am making no money
with the use of this character and her personality. This is just a little
love story about Death and a doctor. Not sure if it happened but it could
have.
For Thy Sweet Love Remember'd
David turned over in the tousled sheets of his bed. The clock on the dresser said it was 5:30 AM and when he turned back to look at her, he realized that she was gone. He stumbled clumsily to the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like hell and felt about a dozen times worse. Cold water splashed over his face from the faucet as he ran his hand through his sandy hair. She was gone. Not long ago, he had been married to a beautiful woman named Jennifer and had had a family, but he didn't miss that manipulative bitch. David missed the woman he had been with just last night. Not Monica (if that was her name) who, he remember, had not exactly been free. He wasn't sad that she had left or even when he realized that she had stolen his credit cards and a good amount of his furniture. He had been picturing someone else that night anyway. All he could think about was the woman in black.
She had been in his dream wearing jeans and a leather jacket. She had the greatest smile and softest skin that was white as bone. In his dream, he had been in the park with Jennifer. It was their usual Sunday picnic that they always had when they were happily married. It was beautiful and the park held a striking resemblance to the pictures painted by Monet. She left him. She always left him when he needed her. "Monica" had entered the picture for only a moment before she was gone. Richard had sat there, stunned before she had appeared beneath the trees. She sat by his bedside for some time without speaking. When he tried to talk to her, she would put her finger to his lips and quiet him once again. He would kiss her momentarily before she pushed him away only to sit in silence. Her lips tasted sweet like the first days of a child's summer. She smiled for only a moment before he awoke. She was gone and for the first time in so very long, he cried. It had only been a dream. Reality was a bitch.
He showered quickly to wash away the feelings of last night and dressed so that he could leave for work. The tie felt like a noose around his neck. He wished it were a noose. If it was, he might be able to see her again. But this was crazy. After all, he was a doctor. How could he love her when he had tried to destroy her so many times? All David knew was that he needed something to calm his nerves. He poured himself a glass of vodka and took out a pack of cigarettes. He felt the smoke flow through him. It was like water, life sustaining and necessary. It was not the deadly stuff of nightmares that he warned his patients about. It was pure calming nicotine and he loved it. He finished his glass of vodka and drove to work, hoping to crash and never having the courage to end it himself. The rain was pounding on the windows and the road was slick. All he could think about on the drive to the hospital was her.
He had seen her at work dozens of times before their meeting last night. No one knew her name or even acknowledged that she was there. But David did. Every time he asked someone who she was or told co-workers that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, they told him to talk to Dr. Parker. They said that he needed a psychologist. Richard knew that all he needed was the woman in black.
When he arrived at the hospital and walked through the doors into the white waiting room, he saw her. She was walking slowly with a lime green umbrella over her right shoulder. He ran after her through the corridors but she always managed to escape him. She entered the elevator at the end of the hall and waved at him, smiling as she did so. David ran into the elevator just before the doors closed and when he looked up, he was alone in the small elevator. She had escaped him again. He slumped over in the elevator, head against the cold walls when the doors opened again.
"You're late Dr. James," began a rather argumentative nurse. "A couple of your patients have gotten considerably worse. Mister Ryan, in room 421 is comatose, as he has been for the last 5 weeks and." David didn't hear the rest of the conversation. He hadn't even heard the first part but he had learned to smile and nod. That was the best way to deal with these types of people. Just smile and nod.
She finished speaking and exited with Dr. David James and, out of habit, he started walking to room 421.
The halls were uncomfortably sterile and immaculately clean. He hated that he still worked here and that he helped people. They couldn't help him. Only she could help him. David walked into room 421 only to find a man dressed in casual black clothing sitting at the foot of Mister Ryan's bed. The man had unruly hair that was black as midnight. His face was white like chalk and had a very somber expression. He laid his hand slowly on Mister Ryan's arm and stood to exit the room. He was tall and very thin with cavernous eyes that stared into David. It chilled him.
"Excuse me sir," David began, "but we are not allowing visitors to see Mister Sanders today. I'm afraid that you will have to leave."
"Whom are you talking to David?" asked another nurse that was passing by the room.
"Oh I was just talking to." David began as he looked to where the man had been standing. There was no one there. "No one. No one at all." The nurse looked at him oddly and left the room as David breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He put his hand to his temple to keep his eye from twitching. He couldn't do this anymore. Half the people at work already thought that he was loosing his mind. He had to agree with them now. He needed a smoke and a drink, neither, of which he could get while he was here.
David made a couple of telephone calls to check up on his patients and saw a couple of people whom he knew could not be real. There was a fat woman wearing only a silver barbed ring who just looked at him and continued walking down the hall. The woman in black was there too along with girl with green and pink hair. She had one blue eye and one green eye and wore fishnet stockings and a pink tutu. The woman in black smiled and continued walking with the girl close behind. David knew who they were but he could not bring himself to utter their names. That would only add to his madness. When they had passed another person walked up to him. David could not tell if they were male or female but the person pushed him into an empty room and shoved its tongue in David's mouth. When he tried to reciprocate its affection, it stroked his face and walked out of the room. He or she had a satisfied smirk on its face as it left. But David did not let any of this phase him. They were not real. They couldn't be real. But he knew that it was all a lie. They were more real than he was, even the person that had aroused him just moments ago. But most of all, the woman in black was real and he knew that without question.
He drove home to his apartment without much care for anything. He took the elevator up the ten flights of stairs to his apartment and looked out the window to the New York skyline. The sun had just set and the lights burned brightly on the horizon. There were cars going from one place to another and pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was a wonderful feeling to be isolated from everything. No one knew he was there or what he was going through. David poured himself a nice glass of Merlot and stepped outside to the balcony. The chilly autumn wind whipped across his face as he held tightly to the railing and looked out to the word around him. He remembered there was half a bottle of sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet. He closed the door to the balcony and found the sleeping pills. There weren't as many as he would have liked but they would have to do. He took them and started counting back from 100. By 80 he couldn't even lift his arm. 'This isn't so bad,' he thought. Then he closed his eyes for only a moment, and when he opened them, she had returned to his side. She slowly pulled him to his feet and asked, "Do you know who I am?"
"Of coarse I know who you are," he answered. "You are the reason I'm here. I did this to see you again. I need to be with you," he said as he went to embrace her.
"But why do you need to be with me?" Her smile had not vanished for the entire time that she was talking to him. She pointed to his lifeless form and asked, "Why did you do all this?"
"I did this because." he began slowly. "Because I have nothing left to live for. They all left me. Everyone I have ever loved has left me because of my obsession with you and I couldn't face that."
"David, they didn't leave you because of me," she said. "The word obsession doesn't fit me. Your father left you because it was his time to leave. Your children left you because of your obsession and your wife left you because she's a dyke. She has her own little obsession. None of this is my fault."
"Why are you telling me these thing?" he asked.
"Because you say they have left you because of me, even though you know it's not true. That's why I tell you these things. Your beliefs are so misplaced." She giggled as she said this.
"But I love you," he said softly drawing her close to him. "I have always loved you and I always will." He seemed to be on the verge of tears now.
"I love you too David," she said, her expression unchanged.
"But.you love everyone," he said almost in a whisper. "Don't you?"
"Yes," she said coldly. She saw that he was almost in tears now. "Oh, come here babe."
She pulled him into her warm embrace. It was just as he had imagined. She smelled of cinnamon. She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him momentarily like a shy schoolgirl might. Then she turned to leave, letting her hand rest in his. "Please," he said, taking her hand in his and placing dozens of kisses upon it, "don't leave me," but he knew that his attempt to keep her with him would be in vain. "Will I ever see you again?" he asked, almost in tears.
"Of course you will," she said in her soothing voice. "Everyone sees me, sooner or later." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again with a passion unequaled to any he had ever known.
And then she was gone. Richard tried to roll over in the wrinkled sheets of the hospital bed. He remembered that friends were supposed to come for dinner last night. They must have called someone. It was about 6:30, he assumed, and she was gone. She had been so close and now. she was gone. And it would be god knows how long until he saw he again. A tear trickled down his cheek. And somewhere, not to far away, in a place very near the sunless lands, a woman held an old teddy bear very tightly. A single tear fell from her chalk-white cheek onto his understanding glass eyes. She smiled momentarily before, very slowly, beginning to reapply her mascara.
THE END
For Thy Sweet Love Remember'd
David turned over in the tousled sheets of his bed. The clock on the dresser said it was 5:30 AM and when he turned back to look at her, he realized that she was gone. He stumbled clumsily to the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like hell and felt about a dozen times worse. Cold water splashed over his face from the faucet as he ran his hand through his sandy hair. She was gone. Not long ago, he had been married to a beautiful woman named Jennifer and had had a family, but he didn't miss that manipulative bitch. David missed the woman he had been with just last night. Not Monica (if that was her name) who, he remember, had not exactly been free. He wasn't sad that she had left or even when he realized that she had stolen his credit cards and a good amount of his furniture. He had been picturing someone else that night anyway. All he could think about was the woman in black.
She had been in his dream wearing jeans and a leather jacket. She had the greatest smile and softest skin that was white as bone. In his dream, he had been in the park with Jennifer. It was their usual Sunday picnic that they always had when they were happily married. It was beautiful and the park held a striking resemblance to the pictures painted by Monet. She left him. She always left him when he needed her. "Monica" had entered the picture for only a moment before she was gone. Richard had sat there, stunned before she had appeared beneath the trees. She sat by his bedside for some time without speaking. When he tried to talk to her, she would put her finger to his lips and quiet him once again. He would kiss her momentarily before she pushed him away only to sit in silence. Her lips tasted sweet like the first days of a child's summer. She smiled for only a moment before he awoke. She was gone and for the first time in so very long, he cried. It had only been a dream. Reality was a bitch.
He showered quickly to wash away the feelings of last night and dressed so that he could leave for work. The tie felt like a noose around his neck. He wished it were a noose. If it was, he might be able to see her again. But this was crazy. After all, he was a doctor. How could he love her when he had tried to destroy her so many times? All David knew was that he needed something to calm his nerves. He poured himself a glass of vodka and took out a pack of cigarettes. He felt the smoke flow through him. It was like water, life sustaining and necessary. It was not the deadly stuff of nightmares that he warned his patients about. It was pure calming nicotine and he loved it. He finished his glass of vodka and drove to work, hoping to crash and never having the courage to end it himself. The rain was pounding on the windows and the road was slick. All he could think about on the drive to the hospital was her.
He had seen her at work dozens of times before their meeting last night. No one knew her name or even acknowledged that she was there. But David did. Every time he asked someone who she was or told co-workers that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, they told him to talk to Dr. Parker. They said that he needed a psychologist. Richard knew that all he needed was the woman in black.
When he arrived at the hospital and walked through the doors into the white waiting room, he saw her. She was walking slowly with a lime green umbrella over her right shoulder. He ran after her through the corridors but she always managed to escape him. She entered the elevator at the end of the hall and waved at him, smiling as she did so. David ran into the elevator just before the doors closed and when he looked up, he was alone in the small elevator. She had escaped him again. He slumped over in the elevator, head against the cold walls when the doors opened again.
"You're late Dr. James," began a rather argumentative nurse. "A couple of your patients have gotten considerably worse. Mister Ryan, in room 421 is comatose, as he has been for the last 5 weeks and." David didn't hear the rest of the conversation. He hadn't even heard the first part but he had learned to smile and nod. That was the best way to deal with these types of people. Just smile and nod.
She finished speaking and exited with Dr. David James and, out of habit, he started walking to room 421.
The halls were uncomfortably sterile and immaculately clean. He hated that he still worked here and that he helped people. They couldn't help him. Only she could help him. David walked into room 421 only to find a man dressed in casual black clothing sitting at the foot of Mister Ryan's bed. The man had unruly hair that was black as midnight. His face was white like chalk and had a very somber expression. He laid his hand slowly on Mister Ryan's arm and stood to exit the room. He was tall and very thin with cavernous eyes that stared into David. It chilled him.
"Excuse me sir," David began, "but we are not allowing visitors to see Mister Sanders today. I'm afraid that you will have to leave."
"Whom are you talking to David?" asked another nurse that was passing by the room.
"Oh I was just talking to." David began as he looked to where the man had been standing. There was no one there. "No one. No one at all." The nurse looked at him oddly and left the room as David breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He put his hand to his temple to keep his eye from twitching. He couldn't do this anymore. Half the people at work already thought that he was loosing his mind. He had to agree with them now. He needed a smoke and a drink, neither, of which he could get while he was here.
David made a couple of telephone calls to check up on his patients and saw a couple of people whom he knew could not be real. There was a fat woman wearing only a silver barbed ring who just looked at him and continued walking down the hall. The woman in black was there too along with girl with green and pink hair. She had one blue eye and one green eye and wore fishnet stockings and a pink tutu. The woman in black smiled and continued walking with the girl close behind. David knew who they were but he could not bring himself to utter their names. That would only add to his madness. When they had passed another person walked up to him. David could not tell if they were male or female but the person pushed him into an empty room and shoved its tongue in David's mouth. When he tried to reciprocate its affection, it stroked his face and walked out of the room. He or she had a satisfied smirk on its face as it left. But David did not let any of this phase him. They were not real. They couldn't be real. But he knew that it was all a lie. They were more real than he was, even the person that had aroused him just moments ago. But most of all, the woman in black was real and he knew that without question.
He drove home to his apartment without much care for anything. He took the elevator up the ten flights of stairs to his apartment and looked out the window to the New York skyline. The sun had just set and the lights burned brightly on the horizon. There were cars going from one place to another and pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was a wonderful feeling to be isolated from everything. No one knew he was there or what he was going through. David poured himself a nice glass of Merlot and stepped outside to the balcony. The chilly autumn wind whipped across his face as he held tightly to the railing and looked out to the word around him. He remembered there was half a bottle of sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet. He closed the door to the balcony and found the sleeping pills. There weren't as many as he would have liked but they would have to do. He took them and started counting back from 100. By 80 he couldn't even lift his arm. 'This isn't so bad,' he thought. Then he closed his eyes for only a moment, and when he opened them, she had returned to his side. She slowly pulled him to his feet and asked, "Do you know who I am?"
"Of coarse I know who you are," he answered. "You are the reason I'm here. I did this to see you again. I need to be with you," he said as he went to embrace her.
"But why do you need to be with me?" Her smile had not vanished for the entire time that she was talking to him. She pointed to his lifeless form and asked, "Why did you do all this?"
"I did this because." he began slowly. "Because I have nothing left to live for. They all left me. Everyone I have ever loved has left me because of my obsession with you and I couldn't face that."
"David, they didn't leave you because of me," she said. "The word obsession doesn't fit me. Your father left you because it was his time to leave. Your children left you because of your obsession and your wife left you because she's a dyke. She has her own little obsession. None of this is my fault."
"Why are you telling me these thing?" he asked.
"Because you say they have left you because of me, even though you know it's not true. That's why I tell you these things. Your beliefs are so misplaced." She giggled as she said this.
"But I love you," he said softly drawing her close to him. "I have always loved you and I always will." He seemed to be on the verge of tears now.
"I love you too David," she said, her expression unchanged.
"But.you love everyone," he said almost in a whisper. "Don't you?"
"Yes," she said coldly. She saw that he was almost in tears now. "Oh, come here babe."
She pulled him into her warm embrace. It was just as he had imagined. She smelled of cinnamon. She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him momentarily like a shy schoolgirl might. Then she turned to leave, letting her hand rest in his. "Please," he said, taking her hand in his and placing dozens of kisses upon it, "don't leave me," but he knew that his attempt to keep her with him would be in vain. "Will I ever see you again?" he asked, almost in tears.
"Of course you will," she said in her soothing voice. "Everyone sees me, sooner or later." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again with a passion unequaled to any he had ever known.
And then she was gone. Richard tried to roll over in the wrinkled sheets of the hospital bed. He remembered that friends were supposed to come for dinner last night. They must have called someone. It was about 6:30, he assumed, and she was gone. She had been so close and now. she was gone. And it would be god knows how long until he saw he again. A tear trickled down his cheek. And somewhere, not to far away, in a place very near the sunless lands, a woman held an old teddy bear very tightly. A single tear fell from her chalk-white cheek onto his understanding glass eyes. She smiled momentarily before, very slowly, beginning to reapply her mascara.
THE END